Pay raise plan likely to clear committee

JEFFERSON CITY — Pay raises for judges and elected officials are likely to take effect, a Senate leader indicated Wednesday.

A Senate committee on Wednesday discussed a proposal to block the pay raises, which were recommended late last year by a salary commission. But only the sponsors spoke for the measure to reject the raises, and the Missouri Bar opposed it.

The committee did not vote on the measure, and Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said he doubts there’s enough support for it to clear the committee.

Sen. Victor Callahan, D-Independence, and Sen. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, both proposed measures to block the pay hike, saying that while judges should be paid better, it’s not right to raise law­makers’ salaries at the same time.

The state salary commission recommended giving officeholders a $1,200 raise, plus a 4-percent raise, essentially restoring the pay increase that other state employees received in the past few years. The plan also calls for judges and elected officials to receive whatever pay increase other state employees get going forward.

Woody Cozad, speaking for the Missouri Bar, said lawyers in private practice don’t apply to be judges because they don’t want to take a pay cut.

Shields said the committee will consider sending the legislation to the full Senate. Under a voter-approved change, the raises take effect unless two-thirds of the House and Senate reject the plan by Feb. 1.